I'm pretty sure it was Gregg Pastore who made the decision to shut it down. No one had any idea at all, even the lead mod at the time Zman.
What they Should have done is announced it with one day left for people to post, create their contacts with friends, etc. Also, the Sim league lost everything they had worked for Years on... although a couple of them told me that they had Some but not all backed up. Then, they should have let it go for a couple of weeks as readable without the ability to post so people could further salvage what they could.
Tom Donahoe nearly had the place shut down many years earlier though... had been reading it and didn't like what he saw, and That is when the CoC on that board was born. Old time posters remember when there wasn't one. It was either that or shut it down.
All water under the bridge now.